Baby Butler #4 is 18 Weeks!!

Baby Growth:

Our sweet girl is the size of a sweet potato or a bell pepper! Although my belly looks more the baby is the size of a basketball!



My Symptoms: I’ve got some fun stuff going on this time. I was nauseas off and on ALL DAY LONG for the first 15 1/2- 16 weeks. I JUST started feeling better in the last week or so. I’m so grateful to be feeling better! I was worried when the nausea didn’t go away right at the end of the first trimester that I was going to be sick the whole time. This was definitely the most sick/nauseas/moody I’ve been yet…& I KNEW it was a girl because of how different I felt. I’ve also had a little heartburn off & on. I have a few varicose veins that are pretty intense too and will probably require  some type of treatment when I’m done having babies. I also have an umbilical hernia. It’s not very big and is just slightly uncomfortable. They told me wearing a support band will help and that it may just go away on its own after the baby is born. I’ve also read it becomes less uncomfortable as the belly grows (although you wouldn’t think that). I’ve been warned that if I have any severe pain to get to the hospital ASAP, so there’s that. My upper arms are breaking out (I know that’s so random and gross- it was my back with Jase and my neck with Beau).

Weight/Belly: I’d guess probably 10-11 lbs. My belly is HUGE though! I feel like I look like I’m 6-7 months and I’m only 4 1/2. My belly is definitely the biggest it’s ever been at this stage in pregnancy. (Yes, I’m sure there is only one in there.) I’m wondering if it’s because I never fully recovered from diastasis recti after Beau. (I jumped back into too intense of exercise too quickly & did ab exercises I had no business doing post-partum.)

Gender/Name: It’s a GIRL! Before Jase was born, I had the name Emmy Kate picked out before I even decided on a boy name name. Jonathan is on board, so now we are just trying to decide whether to spell it Emmy or Emmie (leaning towards the “y” to continue with my 4 letter names). We do plan on calling her by both names.

Maternity Clothes: Not wearing them yet, but I totally should be. I wear mostly flowy shirts though & have had to leave my pants unbuttoned a few times. I am wearing a support band to help support my umbilical hernia.

Movement: I don’t know if I’m crazy, but I am almost positive I felt the first movement at 11/12 weeks. I can periodically feel movements now but nothing super consistent.

Sleep: I think I took a nap every single day I could swing it from week 8 till last week. I FINALLY have more energy! And by more, I don’t mean a lot, but at least better than it was. I told Jon I thought I might have chronic fatigue or something! (Maybe being a little dramatic, but i could barely function without a nap for like 10 weeks straight.) I haven’t been sleeping great at night because I can’t sleep on my bely anymore and I wake up every single time I roll over/flip side to side (which seems like a million times a night.) I finally busted out the pregnancy pillow last night and it helped a TON! Up until a few weeks ago, I was going to sleep about 9:30 every night after I laid the boys down.

Cravings: All things pickled! Especially pickled okra. And tomatoes.

Supplements: probiotics, fiber, omegas, multivitamin, Catalyst (amino acids), collagen, bone broth protein, 1 Spark/day, Rehydrate

Nutrition: I typically eat eggs + avocados + ketchup or salsa & a piece of Ezekiel toast with ghee for breakfast. Now that I’m feeling better, I try to do something green every day (either a salad, a smoothie, or juice). Definitely been eating WAY too many sweets….I eat something sweet every single day and have been baking a LOT. I randomly craved dairy for the first 12 weeks or so and was thankful when that went away. Trying to eat plenty of nuts & veggies. Loving fruit.

Work Outs: I typically work out 3-5 times a week with Jonathan. Mostly full body strength training with a body pump class mixed in once a week or so. I have ran two 5Ks but that’s about the extent of my cardio besides the 10 min warm-up I do on the elliptical. I hurt my right knee a few weeks ago and couldn’t squat at all, but thankfully the swelling and pain both finally went away (after like 2 weeks) and I can squat (just doing body weight) pain free. I’m pretty sure I hurt it because my glutes are SO tight. I’ve started foam rolling and that’s helped tremendously. I feel SO much better when I work out! I never really feel like going, & I’m not really going super hard when I get there, but I definitely have more energy, am in a better mood, and sleep (at least a little) better on days I work out.

Best Pregnancy Moment This Week: Celebrating Jase’s 6th birthday!! And hearing Jonathan talk about his “baby girl.” He is so excited & it is melting my heart already!

Goals for next week: Drink more water. (I have NOT been doing a great job with hydration this pregnancy.) Eat mostly at home. (We ate out a LOT the first trimester, so now that I’m feeling better I’ve been cooking way more.) Do some stretching & look into Buteyko breathing & meeting with a doc about implementing some iodine into my regimen.

Siblings Pregnancy Comparisons:

18 Weeks With Jase


Weeks 18-20 With Kade


18 Weeks With Beau

Butler Party of 6!!

We are so excited to to be welcoming a sweet baby GIRL to our family this October!! We are so grateful to the Lord for this good & perfect gift from above.

{Not our best pic ever, but ya take what you can get when you’re dealing with a bunch of dudes who don’t like pictures.}

After lots of praying and seeking the Lord for his perfect timing to add to our family, we started trying for baby #4 around August maybe? (I think it was then.) I took a positive pregnancy test in November, and although I was excited, I just had a *feeling.* I started bleeding (like a normal period) a few days after the positive test & I knew the pregnancy wasn’t going to be viable. I made an appointment with our midwife just to make sure, and turns out I was having what they refer to as a “chemical pregnancy.” The Lord gave me such a peace about it and I feel as if he prepared my heart by giving me that “feeling” ahead of time, almost like I knew it was coming. I don’t know if that sounds weird, but I just knew something wasn’t right and I asked Jonathan to help me pray for the Lord’s will. I told God I trusted Him fully & He was so good to deliver such peace during that. Our midwife suggested we wait for another cycle to begin trying again, so we let December pass and started trying in January before Jonathan went on his mission trip to Nepal.

I took a positive test at the beginning of February & I went for a checkup at 6 weeks. We did an ultrasound just to be on the safe side and heard a sweet little heartbeat & saw a little peanut. (I try to avoid having too many ultrasounds, but wanted to make sure everything was good.) We started telling people right away after that.

A friend at the gym told me about this Sneak Peak test that is supposed to be 99.6% accurate (they refund your money after the baby is born if it’s wrong), so I ordered that around 9 weeks. The test it also warns you that being around male DNA can alter the results and make it inaccurate, so there is that. And…Ummmm, well I’m slightly outnumbered here so I just went to an area of my house where none of them ever go (& they were all playing outside) and hoped for the best. Mailed it off, came back a few days later and said BOY!

I thought from the get go this one was a girl, so I wasn’t fully convinced, but was still excited. If you can’t tell, I LOVE being a boy mom!! Like, legit LOVE it!! I would be totally fine with another boy, but I could tell Jon and my dad were both a little disappointed even though they tried not to show it. We told our immediate fam the results, but I had also done the bloodwork at the doctor’s office & knew the results would be coming in soon to verify. The next day, my midwife called. I missed her call & she texted me & left me a voicemail to call her back ASAP, so my heart stopped for a min & I was worried something was wrong. When I called her back, she told me everything was fine and that we were actually having a GIRL!! I seriously couldn’t believe it!

My mom was at my house when I got the call & she thought I was joking! Ha! I told the boys & we Facetimed everyone else to tell them it was a girl. Everyone was SO excited!! I think Jonathan and my dad are the most pumped out of everyone! (For the record, we weren’t “trying for a girl” and I would have been equally excited about a boy. ANY baby is a GIFT from the Lord and so exciting! And maybe I’m biased, but I think boys are SO MUCH FUN & just INCREDIBLE! Okay, just had to put that out there. Moving right along.) So Jonathan keeps saying this is our last baby, and if that's really the case, I’m very very grateful the Lord chose to bless us with a girl this time. I really want him to experience the sweet father/daughter bond & for the boys to have a sister. (Also for the record, I’d still like more babies. I’d love for her to be able to have a sister because that is another really special bond! I totally trust Jonathan’s wisdom and discernment though, so I’m praying the Lord changes one of our hearts and aligns our desires in family size with his will.)
Jonathan keeps saying things like “My whole world is about to change!” It is seriously SO cute how excited he is to be a girl dad! All of his buddies keep telling him, “just wait man!”

It’s definitely been an interesting pregnancy so far. I was nauseas off and on all day for about the first 15-16 weeks. No throwing up, but felt like I’d probably feel better if I could. Felt like I was eating all day long. Belly popped out SUPER fast! Broke out on the top parts of my arms (random? I broke out on my neck when I was pregnant with Beau). Have some fun varicose veins, an umbilical hernia, & have had heartburn. Been MAJORLY craving sweets and have experienced a level of exhaustion I didn’t know was possible. (I told Jonathan more than once I thought I might have chronic fatigue & took a 2 hour nap every afternoon I got a chance). I’ll be 18 weeks on Friday. Gained about 8-9 lbs so far, although it feels like more and my belly looks more like I’m 7 months. I sound like a total bundle of joy, right? Ha! It has felt VERY different this time, & I only remember feeling totally AMAZING with the boys…but when I re-read my old blog posts, I had some of the same stuff early on with them. (I think God allows us to forget the hard stuff so we’ll have more?)

I’m very thankful to be turning finally a corner though. I’m still pretty tired, but I’m guessing that’s just cuz I’m chasing around 3 others. Working out def helps with my energy & helps me sleep better, but I’m just doing light/easy workouts because I don’t have a ton of energy.
Lots of people have asked, and we DO have a name! Same name I’ve had since before Jase…just haven’t decided how we want to spell it. This sweet girl will either be Emmie Kate or Emmy Kate. (Which do you like better?)

My official due date is October 11th.  I already feel more “pressure” to step my game up.  With the boys, I have a huge part in raising/training/shaping them, but ultimately Jonathan is their example of what a strong man/honorable husband/father/follower of Christ looks like. With this sweet girl, I AM HER EXAMPLE…so I want to be more quiet & gentle, more patient and kind, more ladylike, watch my tone/less sarcastic, etc. I know we are (hopefully) always growing, but I really feel like I need to let the Lord do some pruning before she arrives.

Grateful for our growing family and this precious baby girl. Thank you to everyone for all the love, the congrats, the well wishes, and the encouragement. That has meant so very much to me! I cannot WAIT to see her sweet face in October!!